Charles Willson PealeAmerican, 1741–1827May one see it?
Washington, D.C., United States
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
According to George Washington’s diary, Colonel John Cox sat for the finishing touches on this miniature at Valley Forge on April 23, 1778. At the time, Peale was a captain in the same company. Cox took the oath of allegiance at Valley Forge earlier that year, and served as the company’s assistant quartermaster general. A Philadelphia merchant, Cox owned Batsto Furnace in New Jersey, which produced munitions for the Continental army. Conservation of this miniature was made possible through a generous grant provided by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.
Smithsonian American Art Museum